More Rain!

Everybody in this area woke up about 3:30 am when some huge thunderstorms came through. It was loud until dawn. Our area got between 3.5 and 5 inches, and some parts of Acadia Parish got as much as 10 inches.

Lafayette was almost 6 inches below the normal rainfall for June, so this might serve to catch us up a little.

This is the first day in a long time that we don't have to irrigate the fruit trees and other crops.

Now the grass needs to dry so I can mow it.

Finally! Rain!

Lafayette got some rain today; not as much as we need, but it's better than nothing. First day in a long time that we haven't had to spend the evening watering the crops.

Looks like a few of the figs will be ready on the traditional day, July 4. We had a big fig drop during the dry spell, have lots of green ones on the tree. The tomatoes are blooming but not setting fruit because of the hot nights.

The hot peppers are going to town. I need to find my HazMat suit and make pepper jelly.

Can't Believe How Hot It Is Already

We have a high pressure system that's foiling the usual pattern of afternoon rains. We had a massive drop of figs before we realized how dry the fig tree was getting. It's not even the summer solstice yet and we're having heat indices of 100 and higher.

We planted our tomatoes too late; they are growing just fine but tomatoes won't set fruit if the low temperatures are higher than 75 or so. This usually happens in July or August, not the middle of June.

Tippy will only go outside if he is forced to. Jasper is a true heat-loving cat; he likes the air conditioning but doesn't mind stretching out on the patio.

I might have a record-breaking electric bill this month due to the air conditioning running so much.

Better Late Than Never

We were very busy with schoolwork during normal planting season, so we are just getting some things started.

Here is the basil bed.

Here are the tomatoes and Kentucky Wonder beans. They've been in the ground about a week.

Here is the fig tree- looks like I will get several batches of figs to preserve this year. Had one big batch last year.

Voila, the volunteer heirloom field peas that we don't know the name of. We judge planting season by the sprouting of these peas.

Tippy (the dog) and Jasper (the cat) are not big on yard work except if it cools off during the evening. Jasper is a big fan of grass-pulling. The St. Augustine makes long runners, and he likes pouncing on the pile of them that gets pulled out of the flowerbeds.

Here are Ray's naga golokia peppers. A student gave him a few, and he saved the seeds. I made pepper jelly out of the ripe ones; they are hotter than habanero. Almost had to take Ray to the emergency room after he popped a sliver of a raw one into his mouth. Thought it was going to give him heart failure. He turned really pale.

Planting Time

Actually, pretty late in the season. Finally got a few tomato plants in with some Kentucky Wonder beans. The mirliton vine is taking over on the back 40, and the St. Augustine grass taking over the front 40, especially over the citrus fertilizer plant spikes. Hot weather and lots of rain have given us a primo crop of St. Augustine grass. The citrus has set lots of fruit this year, but needs some mineral supplement. The "patte de poule" peas volunteered to come up and are competing nicely with the grass all over the yard.

Hummingbird Heaven

Last Sunday, we visited some friends who live on the banks of the Atchafalaya River. They have a hummingbird population year-round, plus migratory ones.

The ruby-throated hummingbirds were swarming around the three feeders - there were at least 30 of them around.

The host positioned two of us within about a foot from one feeder, and removed the other feeders. In minutes, the hummingbirds were brushing our ears with their wings on the way to the feeder. We were surrounded by the hum of their wings and their chirps and cheeps as they competed for spots at the feeder.

It was awesome.

Smells Good in Our Neighborhood

Well, we have upgraded to 80 degree days now. This means the honeysuckle on the hurricane fence next to the carport perfumes that side of the yard, while the jasmine that's on the opposite side of the house perfumes the back yard. It's right next to my bedroom window which I keep cracked open a few inches to let it perfume the house too.

My tree roses are blooming - the white Iceberg and the pink The Fairy. I pruned them very late so wasn't sure what would happen. I pruned them so strongly that it might take this year for them to regain their shape.

The grass is growing fast - especially in the back yard where we installed fertilizer tree spikes around the fruit trees. There are very tall green tufts where each spike is.

The fig tree is encroaching on one of the satsumas; for several years, it was just a twig but now... it's growing into a giant. I got a full batch of figs for preserving from it last year, we'll see how this year goes.

We have several volunteer squash plants setting fruit like crazy, and Ray spent last weekend working his beds for the okra, beans, and tomatoes.

I spent the whole weekend in front of the computer working on my GIS project.

The citrus that bloomed has set lots of fruit- if we don't have a spring hailstorm we should have a good harvest this year. The calamondin and kumquat have yet to bloom.

The blackberry bramble in the front azalea hedge has set fruit, and some might be getting ripe. Need to send Stephanie out there to see. She might get between 1/2 cup and a cup of ripe blackberries at a time.

Back Home Again

I spent the better part of last week in Baton Rouge at the Remote Sensing and GIS Workshop. It was a lot of fun. Reminded me partly of an anthropology conference, and partly of a computer geek conference. With some natural resources and assorted government people too. I stayed with Greg and Terri in Baton Rouge - they live in a house built in the 1930's of poured concrete. It was right across the lake from the conference - couldn't be more convenient. They went with me to the crawfish boil - Greg knows lots of the people from his work in coastal zone management so it was fun. Greg was Ray's roommate in graduate school at LSU.

Now I have to re-learn how to shop, cook, clean up, go to a job, etc.

Happy Easter!

The Easter bunny came early to our house - Mackenzie, Steph's 8 year old cousin was up at 7 am. There was lots of excitement, Easter presents, candy, sweet rolls, then everybody who was up at 7 am is back down for a morning nap.

Busy Weekends Ahead

We have a busy weekend ahead - get the house ready for Easter company, cook for and attend an annual pig roast/potluck in Livonia, cook for and attend our monthly discussion group meeting.

We are looking forward to seeing the family that always comes to our house for Easter. The husband is planning a big barbeque.

I'm planning to attend a regional GIS conference during most of the week after Easter. The pre-conference workshop looks like it will be a direct help in my class project for this semester.

Looks like the husband's Quebec summer school of three weeks is going to happen in July. Need to make plans to join him for a week if possible.

The daughter's high school bowling team won their local playoffs, will participate in bi-regional tournament next week in Bossier City. We'll see if they go to state. The state tournament will be in Baton Rouge, I think, much more convenient.

First Mowing of 2009

Today I did some mowing. My sinuses were shot anyway so what the heck. We were winning the long grass contest on our street. Most people on this street have lawn services that mow and weed-whack year-round. Not us. My yard man is on his way home from Santa Fe tonight.

I also whacked some of the azaleas so the gas meter is now visible.

I got the troops to clean the live oak leaves and catkins off the driveway, wash down the carport. The troops will come home from the movie with more girls to sleepover, so the enlarged troop can drag my pruned azalea branches to the street for Monday pickup.

I didn't get the whole back yard done; just the part visible from the patio. It's not as long there anyway.

After mowing, I can just sit and smell the perfume from the citrus orchard. Each kind of tree is sweet, and just a little different.

And.. the honeybees are starting to show up after going missing for about two years. Still not as many as I saw in 2005 but it's good to see the ones that are here.

My amaryllis is blooming too. I have three flower shoots with two big flowers each.

Steak Night

I had a perfect spring evening yesterday. The weather cleared, the lemon tree is blooming and filled the yard with perfume. We had some very nice aged ribeye steaks so I sat on the patio with my bottle of Molson and grilled them. The neighborhood was quiet except for the bees in the lemon tree and the birds. The house was quiet because the daughter was napping and the husband wasn't home. The pets kept me company on the patio, supervising the grilling. The steaks were so tender I used a butter knife to cut mine. Mmmm.

Tippy asked for a walk around dark so we took our normal round, smelling the jasmine as we went around the block.

What Does This Sign Mean?

I keep passing a telephone pole with this sign on it. I ponder the meaning. Though it seems random, it must mean something or they wouldn't put up a sign. Readers, please add any thoughts you may have. Is it a command directed to potheads? Is it simply a descriptive declaration? Why do we need this caution? What happens if potheads don't feed the overhead line? It seems slightly ominous to me.



I have a hint - the city is currently installing fiber optic cable in a fiber-to-the-home initiative. And - I learned long ago that POTS means Plain Old Telephone Service in communications lingo.

Anyway, this sign has intrigued me for a few weeks.

Mardi Gras is Over

We're well into Lent now - springtime is here with the peaking of the azaleas, Bradford pear trees, and bridal wreath. Here's a final Mardi Gras picture of the husband on the Mamou Mardi Gras band wagon on Mardi Gras Day. He's the one with the silly yellow headgear and the guitar.

Mardi Gras Weekend

There's something about the wild sound of the sirens and horn blasts from law enforcement that begin the parade. We are close enough to the parade route to hear them coming. It's exciting even if you don't go to the parade. I turn into a six-year-old kid when I hear the clink of the dubloons on the pavement. The daughter has had other things to do so I haven't gone to any parades this year.

I was working out in the yard yesterday afternoon when I heard the sirens, then the drums from the bands come closer for the Children's Parade. We had to get the live oak tree leaves piled up before the rain so we didn't go. The live oaks drop their leaves in spring, not fall. Just in time to grind up and re-charge our compost pile.

I was thinking about going to last night's parade, but a rain storm/cold front came through right at start time. I never found out if they canceled or just started late; I never heard the sirens. When I left home last night to pick up the girl gang at the ice rink, there was lots of trash in the streets but I don't know if it was all from the afternoon parade or from both parades.

The husband went to the L'Anse LeJeune Mardi Gras to play music in the band wagon. It was drawn by two young Clydesdale horses. In previous years, there were some seasoned Belgians drawing the wagon, who could pull it without jerking. This year, the young horses started pulling with a jerk every time. The husband had fun but it was a very long cold day. I don't have pictures of this year since I didn't go with him, but here's a shot of him playing the guitar from last year.

Krewe Des Chiens Parade

Yesterday was the Krewe des Chiens parade to benefit the Humane Society and Animal Aid. The daughter and her girl gang were in it - one of the gang members has a little toy dog they entered in the parade. Lafayette's Mardi Gras parades start two weekends before Mardi Gras Day this year so there are lots of chances to see one. Plus, the barricades are in place early and blocking traffic.



Here is a picture of the daughter slinging me some beads. Most people were nice and didn't throw any at me since I had my camera in front of my face.



I'm working on sizing some more parade pics and putting them on Picasa. This might take me a while because my space is limited, and the original size of the pics is large.

Azaleas Blooming a Month Early

Yes, the warm winter we've had has pushed the azaleas into bloom a month early. But, they are mostly sneaking into bloom instead of bursting like they do most years. Some years, we get the flower show during Easter week, when Easter is early. Anyway, there are enough stragglers that we should still have some color in early March.

Crazy January Temperatures

No wonder the flowers can't decide whether to bloom or not. Look at this chart of temps for January.

Quick and Dirty GIS Project

I have been in the GIS lab most of the day today, trying to finish the maps for our review project. So here's mine with my base imagery, point, line, and polygon layers. I still have lots to learn about map layout and cartography. I have trouble making things show up and look nice at the same time.

We each got a random location - Bangor, Maine was one of the easy ones. Now I have to write a paper that incorporates my process and the other map images I created. It's due next Monday.

Daffodils are up!

My early daffodils have started blooming - there are 4 or five of them. They are scattered in the bed and are not very photogenic but they are nice spots of yellow. My Ice Follies are not blooming yet.

The Japanese magnolias are blooming all over town. I haven't taken pictures of them because every tree I see has lost its nice symmetry - I think the hurricane winds of Gustav and Ike last fall broke their limbs. Their flowers are beautiful but the trees are lopsided.

The short spells of cold followed by warm have fooled many azaleas - they are starting to creep into bloom. Most years, they burst into bloom at one time for a couple of weeks, usually in March. For those of you up north, the large evergreen shrubs are covered by so many blooms that you can't see the green of the leaves. Lafayette looks like a Monet painting when they are all in bloom. They come in white, pink, lavender, fuchsia, coral, and red. I'm seeing some color in almost all the azaleas in my neighborhood.

Here's a closeup of my azaleas from 2008.